It was a great way to spend an afternoon, wasn’t it? As you say, much has changed so far as the fabric of the school is concerned (and in the approach to teaching, I suspect). But much has stayed the same. Many familiar corners and reminders. But it wasn’t all about the building. It was as much to do with a meeting of schoolmates who, in many cases, hadn’t seen each other in fifty years. Again as you say, some were more instantly recognisable than others. Like the building, some parts of the individual human make-up have changed (time waits for no man), but familiar characteristics found their way out. I really enjoyed this chance to meet up again.
Thanks for revealing some of your distant past. I am not surprised about your conversation with the art teacher, or your political views. You seem to have thought through where you were going sooner than most of us. You have referred to this in previous podcasts.
School and university reunions differ a lot. I have been to just one school reunion and many university ones, some formal and some informal. The occasion is far more likely to be enjoyable if you know some of the people there, or if they were at least in your class. We also had a school tour, and the changes to the buildings and facilities have been huge.
It sounds as though you have enjoyed your walk down memory lane, Ant, and you have given a vivid description of your experiences and encounters. Reunions do give one the chance to revisit the past, seeing it through different coloured lenses, indeed. To catch up with folk who are otherwise absent in one’s life. I find that the past often appears to be much smaller, when viewing it from where one is currently in one’s life. Life moves so quickly, and the past can have rather an ethereal quality to it, so, perhaps it is also a way to reaffirm to oneself that one was indeed there.
Thanks for the memories, for that trip down memory lane. I dredged my recollections from the attic of those days. I often replay them from time to time, my friends, a few of the teachers, the Latin and the relatively benign times. Jonesy indeed, that pipe smoking fellow who launched my career in the arts of various persuasions. The science lab, a crucible of overt hands on experimentation. Gasps of delight and bemused consternation.
Sorry about the quads, that is where many of my dreams rest in quiescence.
I was there and I love this account of the day !
It was a great way to spend an afternoon, wasn’t it? As you say, much has changed so far as the fabric of the school is concerned (and in the approach to teaching, I suspect). But much has stayed the same. Many familiar corners and reminders. But it wasn’t all about the building. It was as much to do with a meeting of schoolmates who, in many cases, hadn’t seen each other in fifty years. Again as you say, some were more instantly recognisable than others. Like the building, some parts of the individual human make-up have changed (time waits for no man), but familiar characteristics found their way out. I really enjoyed this chance to meet up again.
Thanks for revealing some of your distant past. I am not surprised about your conversation with the art teacher, or your political views. You seem to have thought through where you were going sooner than most of us. You have referred to this in previous podcasts.
School and university reunions differ a lot. I have been to just one school reunion and many university ones, some formal and some informal. The occasion is far more likely to be enjoyable if you know some of the people there, or if they were at least in your class. We also had a school tour, and the changes to the buildings and facilities have been huge.
It sounds as though you have enjoyed your walk down memory lane, Ant, and you have given a vivid description of your experiences and encounters. Reunions do give one the chance to revisit the past, seeing it through different coloured lenses, indeed. To catch up with folk who are otherwise absent in one’s life. I find that the past often appears to be much smaller, when viewing it from where one is currently in one’s life. Life moves so quickly, and the past can have rather an ethereal quality to it, so, perhaps it is also a way to reaffirm to oneself that one was indeed there.
Thanks for the memories, for that trip down memory lane. I dredged my recollections from the attic of those days. I often replay them from time to time, my friends, a few of the teachers, the Latin and the relatively benign times. Jonesy indeed, that pipe smoking fellow who launched my career in the arts of various persuasions. The science lab, a crucible of overt hands on experimentation. Gasps of delight and bemused consternation.
Sorry about the quads, that is where many of my dreams rest in quiescence.
I miss you, your friendship and wisdom even then.
I miss it all, our shining citadel on that hill!
Fide Et Fortudine